Accountable Care Organizations (ACO)

“Ideas, Challenges, and Issues for Systems Thinking Leaders”

Douglas E. Andersonander2de@cmich.edu

“Pioneers get the arrows, the settlers get the land …” Are you a pioneer or a settler?

What’ The Big Idea – A Systems Thinking Approach With Emphasis on Managing Interdependency (Coordination of Care for Better Outcome)?

Aspirational future-based leaders tune into personal & group intentions, culture & learning; aligns signposts to a shared desired future

The traditional stovepipes and silos of typical healthcare organizations and systems will give way to he emergence (a systems thinking principle) will give way to new collaborative and patient-centered partnerships

Systems Thinking Leaders thrive in complex and ambiguous environments by being able to anticipate, adapt, adjust course by preparing self & practicing as a team

Systems Thinkers Create conditions for success by having a sense of purpose for each person, building team capacity & capability, & celebrating success often

Systems Thinkers creates interagency learning networks that empower, encourage, inspire & provoke people in a social interactive rewarding, valuable, productive activity

Incentives: frozen carrots and petrified sticks will still be there but the rewards will be based on outcomes not production

Systems Thinking Leaders create conditions for success by having a sense of purpose for each person, building team capacity & capability, & celebrating success often

Systems thinkers worry about how to accelerate and sustain strategy by infusing it into common practice and embedding it in the culture … transparency, sharing, and change management is required

Systems Thinkers are active listeners tuning in to what is being said, who is saying it, how others are reacting to analyze, integrate & improve understanding

Some are doing great, others are learning, some are blaming each and the system

Systems Thinking leaders are resilient; they are able to bounce back in the face of adversity, anticipates and adjusts course to intelligently respond to adversity & stress

Systems thinkers are network leaders; connect people & information, anticipates needs, seeks resources; nurtures a culture of shared values & purposeful action … and learn from others

ACOs will have to adapt to the chaos and complexities of increased stocks (systems thinking terms)

Systems Thinkers develop present moment awareness - keep full sense of the big picture and purpose. Practice teamwork to detect pivotal moments to shift momentum

Agile thinker anticipates changes, drives to “get better at getting better” by seeking feedback, refining all mental models by practice

Systems thinkers create conditions for success by having a sense of purpose for each person, building team capacity & capability, & celebrating success often

Systems thinkers generate trustworthiness through personal integrity, humor & empathy develop large human networks able to operate on trust

Systems Thinking leaders collaborate to enlist, create and expand leadership commitment is critical to mobilize the whole system. They understand to importance of interdependency. Systems thinking leaders embrace the spirit of systems dynamics, multi-

perspective thought, complexity, and innovation to not only solve current problems, but to anticipate future challenges such that

when they arise the solutions are there to meet them. Systems thinking leaders must have the courage to align strategies that transform cultures and become common practice. They must

create the environment that acknowledges anxiety associated with change, and encourage calculated risk to move organizations and

communities forward.